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Temples and Bathing Ghat at Benares

Edwin Lord Weeks

American Art

Weeks probably painted this seemingly spontaneous sketch of the banks of the Ganges River in the sacred city of Benares during his first extended visit to India, in 1882–83. It most likely served as one of many preparatory studies for his large and important painting The Last Journey, Souvenir of the Ganges, Benares, exhibited to acclaim at the Paris Salon of 1885. Although the broad brushwork of this study is characteristic of his sketches executed on the spot, its size suggests that it may have been painted in his temporary studio in Benares, perhaps with the aid of some of the photographs that he also employed to document his firsthand observations.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
DATES ca. 1883–1885
DIMENSIONS 19 15/16 x 29 15/16 in. (50.6 x 76 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Signed lower left: "E. L. Weeks / Benares"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 77.150.1
CREDIT LINE Gift of Walter Prosser
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Edwin Lord Weeks (American, 1849–1903). Temples and Bathing Ghat at Benares, ca. 1883–1885. Oil on canvas, 19 15/16 x 29 15/16 in. (50.6 x 76 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Walter Prosser, 77.150.1 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 77.150.1_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 77.150.1_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
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